special educational needs in england: january 2016 · to 1,228,785 in 2016. 14.4% of pupils had...
TRANSCRIPT
Contact: Email: [email protected] Press office: 020 7783 8300 Public enquiries: 0370 000 2288
Special educational needs in England:
January 2016
SFR 29/2016, 21 July 2016
The number of pupils with special educational needs continues to decline…
The number of pupils with special
educational needs has reduced from
1,301,445 in 2015 to 1,228,785 in 2016.
The reduction is due to a continuing
decline in the number of pupils with
special educational needs without a
statement or education, health and care
(EHC) plan.
…but the percentage of pupils with a statement or EHC plan remains at 2.8%
236,805 pupils have a statement of
special educational needs or EHC plan.
This is an increase of 640 since 2015,
but remains equal to 2.8% of the total
pupil population.
991,980 pupils are on SEN support.
This is equal to 11.6% of the total pupil
population.
The most common primary types of needs have remained the same as in 2015
26.8% of pupils on SEN support have Moderate
Learning Difficulty as a primary type of need.
25.9% of pupils with a statement or EHC plan
have Autistic Spectrum Disorder as a primary
type of need.
Moderate
Learning
Difficulty
(26.8%)
Primary type of need for pupils with a
statement or EHC plan
Autistic
Spectrum
Disorder
(25.9%)
Primary type of need for pupils on
SEN support
Contact: Email: [email protected] Press office: 020 7783 8300 Public enquiries: 0370 000 2288
Contents
1. Pupils with special educational needs in schools (Table 1) ............................ 4
2. Primary type of need (Table 8) ...................................................................... 5
3. Types of school (Table 1 and table 2) ............................................................ 6
Pupils with special educational needs in academies ................................................................. 6
4. Age and gender (table 3) ............................................................................... 7
5. Other characteristics (table 5, 6 and 7) .......................................................... 8
Free school meal eligibility ......................................................................................................... 8
Ethnicity ..................................................................................................................................... 8
English as a first language ......................................................................................................... 8
6. Special schools (tables 9 and 10) .................................................................. 9
7. Other characteristics and primary type of need (additional tables) ................. 9
Gender ....................................................................................................................................... 9
Age ............................................................................................................................................ 9
Ethnicity ................................................................................................................................... 10
Free school meal eligibility ....................................................................................................... 10
English as a first language ....................................................................................................... 10
8. Accompanying tables ................................................................................... 10
National tables ......................................................................................................................... 10
Local authority and regional tables .......................................................................................... 10
Additional tables ...................................................................................................................... 11
9. Further information is available .................................................................... 12
10. National Statistics ........................................................................................ 13
11. Technical information ................................................................................... 13
12. Get in touch ................................................................................................. 13
Media enquiries ....................................................................................................................... 13
Other enquiries/feedback ......................................................................................................... 13
Contact: Email: [email protected] Press office: 020 7783 8300 Public enquiries: 0370 000 2288
About this release
This statistical first release (SFR) publishes data from the January 2016 school census and annual school level census about pupils with special educational needs and information about special schools in England. This year for the first time, part of this data has previously been published in the ‘Schools pupils and their characteristics: January 2016’ publication.
In addition to the previously published data, this SFR includes breakdowns by age, national curriculum year group gender, ethnicity, English as a first language and free school meal eligibility. It includes data about special schools and SEN units, and an ‘additional tables’ document.
In this publication
The following tables are included in the SFR:
National Tables (Excel .xls) Local authority tables (Excel .xls) Additional tables (Excel. xls) Underlying data (open format .csv and metadata .txt)
The accompanying technical document provides information on the data sources, their coverage and quality and explains the methodology used in producing the data.
Feedback
We are changing how our releases look and welcome feedback on any aspect of this document at [email protected]
1. Pupils with special educational needs in schools (Table 1)
Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Reforms
The Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) provisions in the Children and Families Act 2014 were introduced on 1 September 2014.
From September 2014, children or young people who are newly referred to a local authority for assessment are considered under the new EHC plan assessment process. The legal test of when a child or young person requires an EHC plan remains the same as that for a statement under the Education Act 1996. Transferring children and young people with statements to EHC plans will be phased. Timescales are set out in Transition to the new 0 to 25 special educational needs and disability system: Departmental advice for local authorities and their partners (September 2015).
In addition, the previous ‘School Action’ and ‘School Action Plus’ categories were replaced by a new category ‘SEN support’. It was expected that all transfers to this category should take place during the 2014/15 academic year.
See the SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 for more detailed information on the reforms. The Code of Practice provides improved guidance to help schools and others more accurately identify children with SEN.
Pupils with special educational needs are currently classified as follows:
SEN Support
Extra or different help is given from that provided as part of the school’s usual curriculum. The class teacher and special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) may receive advice or support from outside specialists. The pupil does not have a statement or education, health and care plan.
Statement of special educational needs (statement) or Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan
A pupil has a statement or EHC plan when a formal assessment has been made. A document is in place that sets out the child’s need and the extra help they should receive.
Across all schools, the number of pupils with special educational needs has fallen from 1,301,445 in 2015
to 1,228,785 in 2016. 14.4% of pupils had special educational needs in 2016, a fall from 15.4% in 2015.
This reduction is due to the decline in the number and percentage of pupils with special educational needs
without a statement or EHC plan. This has declined in each of the past six years, falling from 18.3% of
pupils in 2010 to 11.6% in 2016.
From 2015, the School Action and School Action Plus categories have combined to form one category of
SEN support. This led to schools reviewing the needs of pupils previously under School Action and School
Action Plus, and an increased expectation that parents/carers are informed of the decision.
236,805 pupils have a statement or EHC plan. This is an increase of 640 since 2015, but remains equal to
2.8% of the total pupil population. The percentage of pupils with statement or EHC plans has remained
constant since 2007.
Figure A: Time series showing the percentage of pupils with special educational needs: England 2007-2016
Source: school census 2007-2016 (as at January each year)
2. Primary type of need (Table 8)
Coverage
Primary type of need is collected for those pupils on SEN support or with a statement or EHC plan. The coverage for 2015 and 2016 is different to previous years. Pupils who were on School Action were not required to have a primary type of need recorded. From 2015 pupils who were on School Action who have transferred to SEN support will be recorded as having a primary type of need. This has led to an increase in the number of pupils recorded as having a primary type of need. There may have been some pupils who were still on school action in the 2015 collection who did not provide a primary type of need, however there were no pupils recorded as School Action in 2016.
Classification changes
There were changes to the classification of type of need in 2015: the previous code of ‘Behaviour, emotional and social difficulties (BESD)’ was removed. A new code ‘Social, emotional and mental health (SEMH)’ was introduced, although this was not intended to be a direct replacement. The code ‘SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need’ was also introduced in 2015.
Due to the changes in coverage and classification, it is not possible to produce a direct comparison with data prior to 2015.
Moderate Learning Difficulty remains the most common primary type of need overall. 24.2% of pupils with
special educational needs have this primary type of need. This percentage has increased since last year,
from 23.8%.
Moderate Learning Difficulty is also the most common type of need for pupils on SEN support; 26.8% of
pupils on SEN support had this primary type of need.
Autistic Spectrum Disorder remains the most common primary type of need for pupils with a statement or
EHC plan, with 25.9% of pupils with a statement or EHC plan had this primary type of need. This has
increased slightly from 24.5% in 2015.
Figure B: Percentage of pupils with each primary type of need who are either on SEN support or with a statement or EHC plan (pupils in state funded primary, secondary and special schools): England 2016
Source: Schools census 2016
3. Types of school (Table 1 and table 2)
The percentage of pupils with a statement or EHC plan attending maintained special schools has gradually
increased each year. In 2010, 38.2% of pupils with statements attended maintained special schools and
this has increased to 42.9% of pupils with statements or EHC plans in 2016. The percentage of pupils with
statements or EHC plans attending independent schools has also increased between 2010 and 2016, from
4.2% to 5.7%.
Figure C: percentage of pupils with a statement or EHC plan by type of provision: England 2010-2016
School type 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Maintained nursery 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
State-funded primary 25.8 25.8 25.9 26.0 26.2 26.2 25.5
State-funded secondary 28.8 28.4 27.7 26.9 25.7 24.6 23.5
Maintained special 38.2 38.7 39.0 39.6 40.5 41.4 42.9
Pupil Referral Units 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.6
Independent 4.2 4.3 4.7 4.9 5.1 5.3 5.7
Non-maintained special 2.0 1.9 1.9 1.8 1.7 1.6 1.6
Source: School census 2010-2016 (as at January each year)
Pupils with special educational needs in academies
The percentage of pupils with special educational needs in primary academies is 13.4%, the same as the
overall percentage of pupils with special educational needs in all state funded primary schools. 12.4% of
pupils in secondary academies have special educational needs, compared to 12.7% in all state funded
secondary schools. The percentage of pupils in primary or secondary academies with a statement or EHC
plan is the same as the overall percentage for all state funded primary and secondary schools (1.3% for
primary schools and 1.7% in secondary schools).
SEN Support Primary Type of Need Statement or EHC Plan
15.6 Specific Learning Difficulty 4.0
26.8 Moderate Learning Difficulty 13.4
0.4 Severe Learning Difficulty 13.1
0.1 Profound & Multiple Learning Difficulty 4.5
17.3 Social, Emotional and Mental Health 12.3
20.9 Speech, Language and Communications Needs 14.0
1.6 Hearing Impairment 2.7
0.9 Visual Impairment 1.5
0.2 Multi- Sensory Impairment 0.3
2.2 Physical Disability 5.8
4.7 Autistic Spectrum Disorder 25.9
5.5 Other Difficulty/Disability 2.4
Academies
Academies have exactly the same duties for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) as all other schools. All schools have a duty to adhere to the equality act for pupils with disabilities, to have regard for the SEND code of practice and to use their best endeavours to meet pupils’ needs. This means doing everything they can to meet children and young people’s special educational needs. All schools have a duty to admit a young person, where the school is named in an EHC plan and engage with parents on the support provided for their children and involve them in reviewing progress.
4. Age and gender (table 3)
Special educational needs remain more prevalent in boys than girls. 14.7% of boys are on SEN support
compared to 8.2% of girls. This is a reduction from last year when 16.0% of boys and 9.2% of girls were on
SEN support. 4.0% of boys have a statement or EHC plan compared to 1.5% girls. This has fallen slightly
from 4.1% boys and 1.6% girls in 2015.
Figure D: Percentage of pupils on SEN support by age and gender in state-funded primary, secondary and special schools: England 2016
Source: School Census 2016
Figure E: Percentage of pupils with a statement or EHC plan by age and gender in state-funded primary, secondary and special schools: England 2016
Source: School census 2016
SEN support is most prevalent among 10 year-olds. This is consistent with previous years. 14.7% of 10
year-old pupils were on SEN support. Statements or EHC plans are most prevalent at age 15, where 3.9%
of pupils have a statement or EHC plan.
The decline in rates of SEN support was greatest for 13 year olds, with a fall from 13.2% in 2015 to 11.5%
in 2015.
5. Other characteristics (table 5, 6 and 7)
Free school meal eligibility
Pupils with special educational needs remain more likely to be eligible for free school meals. 27.2% of
pupils with special educational needs are eligible for free school meals compared to 12.1% of pupils without
special educational needs. Pupils with statements or EHC plans are more likely to be eligible for free school
meals than pupils on SEN support (31.5% compared to 26.2%)
Ethnicity
Special educational needs remain most prevalent in Travellers of Irish Heritage and Gypsy/Roma pupils
with 35.5% and 30.9% respectively having special educational needs. The percentage of travellers of Irish
heritage pupils with special educational needs has reduced from 40.2% in 2015. There has also been a
reduction in black Caribbean pupils with special educational needs, from 23.5% in 2015 to 21.7% in 2016.
Travellers of Irish heritage and black Caribbean pupils had the highest proportion of pupils with statements
or EHC plans (4.7% and 4.2% respectively). Indian pupils had the lowest percentage of pupils with
statements or EHC plans at 1.9%, compared with 2.8% of all pupils nationally.
English as a first language
Pupils whose first language is known to be English were more likely to have special educational needs than
those whose first language is known to be other than English. 15.5% of pupils whose first language is
known or believed to be English had special educational needs compared to 13.6% of pupils whose first
language is known or believed to be other than English.
3.2% of pupils whose first language is known or believed to be English have a statement or EHC plan,
whereas 2.5% of pupils whose first language is known or believed to be other than English have a
statement or EHC plan.
6. Special schools (tables 9 and 10)
There are 1,039 state-funded and non-maintained special schools in England. The approved provision type
is the type of special need for which the school is formally approved to make provision. The most common
approved provision type for special schools is Autistic Spectrum Disorder. In total, 654 state funded and
non-maintained special schools are approved for this provision type. 556 schools have approved provision
for Severe Learning Difficulty, and 531 schools have approved provision for Moderate Learning Difficulty.
7. Other characteristics and primary type of need (additional tables)
Gender
Boys with a statement or EHC plan are more likely to have Autistic Spectrum Disorder as a primary type of
need than girls. 30.0% of boys with a statement or EHC plan have this primary type of need compared with
14.8% of girls.
Age
There is some variation among age groups for primary type of need. 60.5% of 3 year-olds on SEN support
have a primary type of need of Speech Language and Communication needs. This reduces to 13% of 10
year-olds and 6.9% of 15 year-olds.
Figure F: Percentage of pupils on SEN support, with speech language and communication needs as a primary type of need by age (pupils in state funded primary, secondary and special schools): England 2016
Source: School census 2016
Specific Learning Difficulty is more prevalent in secondary aged pupils with SEN support than primary aged
pupils. 25.0% of 15 year olds on SEN support had this primary type of need compared with 10.8% of 7 year
olds. The difference between age groups is less distinct for pupils with a statement or EHC plan, however
Moderate Learning Difficulty and Social Emotional and Mental Health are both more prevalent in older
pupils.
Ethnicity
Moderate Learning Difficulty was the most common primary type of need for pupils on SEN support for
White, Mixed, Black and Asian ethnic groups. However, the most common primary type of need for
Chinese pupils was Speech, Language and Communication Needs. There was no difference between
ethnic groups for the most common primary type of need for pupils with a statement or EHC plan.
Free school meal eligibility
Pupils with Social, Emotional and Mental Health as their primary type of need are more likely to be eligible
for free school meals than pupils with other primary type of need. 33.0% of pupils with SEN support and
42.5% of pupils with a statement or EHC plan with this type of need were eligible for free school meals.
English as a first language
Pupils with SEN support with Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties as their primary type of need had
the highest proportion of pupils whose first language was known to or believed to be other than English
(33.3%). Pupils with SEN support with Autistic Spectrum Disorder as their primary type of need had the
lowest proportion of pupils with a first language known or believed to be other than English (7.1%).
8. Accompanying tables
The following tables are available in Excel format on the department’s statistics website: Special
educational needs statistics
National tables
1. All Schools: Pupils with special educational needs by school type and type of provision
2. a. Academies: pupils with special educational needs by type of academy
2. b. Academies: Pupils with special educational needs time series
3 State-funded primary, secondary and special schools: Pupils with special educational needs by age and gender
4. State-funded primary, secondary and special schools: Number of pupils with special educational needs by national curriculum year group
5. State-funded primary, secondary and special schools: Pupils with special educational needs known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals
6. state-funded primary, secondary and special schools: number of pupils with special educational needs by ethnic group
7. state-funded primary, secondary and special schools: number and percentage of pupils with special educational needs by first language
8. State-funded primary, secondary and special schools: number and percentage of pupils with special educational needs by primary type of need
9. Special schools: types of provision for which schools have been approved
10. Special schools: number of schools by size
11. State-funded primary and secondary schools: number of schools with SEN units and resourced provisions
Local authority and regional tables
12. All Schools: Number of pupils with a statement or EHC plan, based on where the child attends school
13. All Schools: Number of pupils with SEN support, based on where the pupil attends school
14. State-funded primary, secondary and special schools: number of pupils with special educational needs, based on where the pupil attends school
15. All Schools: number of pupils with special educational needs, based on where the pupil attends school
16. State funded primary schools: number and percentage of pupils with special educational needs by primary type of need
17. State-funded secondary schools: number and percentage of pupils with special educational needs by primary type of need
18. Special schools: number and percentage of pupils with special educational needs by primary type of need
19. State-funded primary and secondary schools: number and percentage of pupils with special educational needs attending SEN units or placed in resourced provision
Additional tables
A. State-funded primary, secondary and special schools: Number and percentage of pupils with special educational needs by gender and primary type of need
B. State-funded primary, secondary and special schools : Number and percentage of pupils with special educational needs by age and primary type of need
C. 1. state-funded primary, secondary and special schools: Number and percentage of pupils with SEN support by ethnic group and primary type of need
C. 2. state-funded primary, secondary and special schools: Number and percentage of pupils with statements or EHC plans by ethnic group and primary type of need
D. state-funded primary, secondary and special schools: Number and percentage of pupils with special educational needs by free school meal eligibility
E. state-funded primary, secondary and special schools: Number and percentage of pupils with special educational needs by national curriculum year group and primary type of need
F. state-funded primary, secondary and special schools: number and percentage of pupils with special educational needs by first language and primary type of need
G. state-funded primary, secondary and special schools: Number and percentage of pupils with special educational needs by primary and secondary type of need
When reviewing the tables, please note that:
We preserve
confidentiality
The Code of Practice for Official Statistics requires we take
reasonable steps to ensure that our published or disseminated
statistics protect confidentiality.
We round and
suppress numbers
and percentages
National figures in table 1, regional and national figures in table 19
and school level figures for number of pupils and number of pupils
with special educational needs in the underlying data document
have been rounded to the nearest 5.
In table 19 and the underlying data table, numbers based on 1 or 2
pupils have been suppressed. Zeros have not been suppressed
Percentages are calculated on unrounded data and are rounded to
the nearest 0.1.
This suppression is consistent with the Departmental statistical
policy which can be found at:
Departmental statistical policy.
And adopt symbols to
help identify this
Symbols are used in the tables as follows:
. not applicable
.. not available
x suppressed figure
9. Further information is available
Previous publications Previous versions of this publication can be found on our SEN
statistics home page:
Statistics: Special educational needs
Other SEN Statistical
publications
Statistics on pupils with SEN, including numbers with statements or
EHC plans, information on educational attainment, destinations,
absence, exclusions, and characteristics
Statistics: Special educational needs
SEND code of
practice
Explains the duties of local authorities, health bodies, schools and
colleges to provide for those with special educational needs under
part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014
SEND code of practice: 0- 25 years
Special educational
needs and disability
regulations
Regulations supplement the procedural framework assessing a
child or young person with special educational needs, and the
procedure for making, reviewing, amending and ceasing to
maintain an EHC plan
The Education (Special Educational Needs) (England)
(Consolidation) Regulations 2001
Special educational needs and disability regulations 2014
Special educational
needs and disability
(SEND) information
Includes links to guidance and regulations about supporting
children and young people with special educational needs and
disabilities.
Special educational needs and disability (SEND)
10. National Statistics
The United Kingdom Statistics Authority has designated these statistics as National Statistics, in
accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and signifying compliance with the Code
of Practice for Official Statistics.
Designation can be broadly interpreted to mean that the statistics:
meet identified user needs;
are well explained and readily accessible;
are produced according to sound methods, and
are managed impartially and objectively in the public interest.
Once statistics have been designated as National Statistics it is a statutory requirement that the Code of
Practice shall continue to be observed.
The Department has a set of statistical policies in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.
11. Technical information
A technical document accompanies this SFR. This provides further information on the data sources, their
coverage and quality and explains the methodology used in producing the data, including how it is validated
and processed.
12. Get in touch
Media enquiries
Press Office News Desk, Department for Education, Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street, London
SW1P 3BT.
Tel: 020 7783 8300
Other enquiries/feedback
Rosanna White, Children’s services analysis and research division, Department for Education,
Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BT Tel: 020 7227 5191
Email: [email protected]
© Crown copyright 2016
This publication (not including logos) is licensed under the terms of the
Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. Where
we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to
obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
To view this licence:
visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3
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write to Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London, TW9 4DU
About this publication:
Enquiries: Rosanna White, Children’s services analysis and research division, Department for
Education, Department for Education, Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BT
Tel: 020 7227 5191 Email: [email protected]
Reference: [SFR 29/2016]
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